Communities depend on aquifer

ARDMORE – The Arbuckle-Simpson aquifer spans more than seven counties and covers more than 500 square miles, providing water for several southern Oklahoma communities including Tishomingo, Durant, Ada, Sulphur and Davis.

It is considered vital to the economies of the area and a primary water source for thousands of Oklahomans, so the debate over how much water can be taken from the aquifer has concerned municipal officials across the southern part of the state.

The Arbuckle-Simpson is considered a sole-source aquifer by the state, under rules established by the Oklahoma Water Resources Board.

“Historically, most of the water withdrawn from the aquifer serves public water supply systems including the towns of Ada, Mill Creek, Roff, Sulphur,” a report from the OWRB noted. “The two largest consumers (from 1962 to 2008) were the cities of Ada and Sulphur. Combined, Sulphur and Ada accounted for 77 percent of the average annual public water use and 48 percent of the (aquifer’s) total use.”

In Tishomingo, the aquifer provides the community’s main source of water, Pennington Creek.

“It’s vital to our city,” said Tishomingo Mayor Tom Lokey. “Changing the aquifer’s maximum annual yield would cause a loss of water for the city. It would be a loss of economic viability for the city.”

Because much of the aquifer’s water is so close to the surface as it feeds streams and rivers such as Pennington Creek and Turner Falls, even small changes in withdrawals could dry up stream and adversely affect the amount of water available for communities, said Dwayne Smith, former executive director of the OWRB.

The debate over the aquifer has pitted agricultural groups such as the Oklahoma Farm Bureau against residents in the area.

Farm Bureau officials said they weren’t trying to fight about the water but were, instead, concerned about the science used in establishing the limits for the aquifer.

Davis City Manager Gary Fielding said water from the aquifer is vital of the economy of the area.

“Falls Creek had over 60,000 young people this year,” Davis said. “Those young people depend on that water. And Turner Falls had 100,000 visitors. The city of Davis depends on that money to run the city.”